FYI for those who have a subscription to Sport Z Magazine

[Mike]

Thanks for the notice on the magazine guys.... You have a good product and we all love the magazine. I am especially glad to have information for both my '71 and my '04.

I did see the blurb about more S30 coverage. We can't wait!!!

[Dreco]

I just got a subscription.... I hope they send this past issue, with the supercharged 240Z..

[Chino 240Z]

Mine arrived Saturday morning. Wish it had more track event articles. I liked Bill Coffey and Zrush's car pictures on the Zfest 2005 article.

[RAZ1]

DokataZ, we not only need more advertisers, we need subscribers. I hate to say it, but the older Z gen doesn't support the magazine like I wish they would. Everytime I go to a show the most common things I hear is: "I need to subscribe to it", "I've been meaning to subscribe", "One day I'm going to subscribe to it" and the list goes on and on. With this kind of thinking, if you wait too long you'll all be waiting for that once or twice a year when one of the bigger magazines decides to run an article on an early gen Z. 5 years ago we found out that there were 100,000+ registered Z's in the US. Thoses numbers came from only 32 states. There are 18 more that we couldn't get numbers from including CA. What the heck are these people waiting for? I would love to have 18% (see below to understand this number) of them.

We now have a 240Z project car that will ensure that there will always be something meaty for the early gen Z in each issue. And we won't be re-inventing the wheel when it comes to restoring it to daily driver status. But it will be a nice multi-part series that will have lots of well documented how-tos to go along with it. After we have turned it into a dependable daily driver, we will take it to the next level and start doing modification articles. So eventually there should be something for everyone. I will still bet that people will say it's not enough but we know that we can't please everyone.

There are only two major aftermarket companies that cater to the early gen, MSA and VB. Beyond that, most other suppliers are junkyards. Most companies aren't interested in manufacturing parts for 30 year old cars that dwindle more and more each year. I wish there were companies that wanted to, but it's just not practical from a business sense.

To give you an idea of how weak support is for the magazine from early Z owners (240Z-Z32), there are 60+ z clubs in the US alone. With a total membership of about 7,000+. Only 18% of the members have a subscription to the magazine. I can not figure out for the life of me why that percentage is so low. You own a Z, you belong to club, why not? We are doing things to change that but it will take time.

I could go on, but most have heard this before. To the point of the Summer mag going out in the mail. It can take from 4 days to 4 weeks for the mag to be delivered. We can do nothing about that once the mag is in the hands of the USPS. We have no problem replacing damaged magazines as long as it doesn't become a regular thing. At that point we will suggest that you upgrade to 1st class to ensure a nice clean copy. We have never told someone that it wasn't our fault, so tough luck and better luck next time. We replace a damanged copy with no questions asked. All we ask is that before voicing something on a forum, that you give us a call first, you'll see that we don't bite.

PS: DakotaZ, show me another magazine in the US that has Datsun or Nissan as part of their tagline on the cover every issue and I'll eat the whole thing. I don't expect that to happen any time soon (and I'm not talking about newsletters or regional rags). Isn't it nice to know that it's on the cover no matter what order they are in. . And just so you know, the reason we put Nissan first is for the newstand. Most people, when it comes to branding know what "Nissan" is. A lot more have never heard of Datsun. But the ones who do don't need to see it on the cover, the cover art will tell them what the magazine is about. Remember, this is a business, not a hobby. Someday we would like to actually make some money, but it might never happen if all of us cheap (myself included-cheap that is) Z owners keep blowing it off.

Just my $18.95's worth of typing. Cheaper if you belong to a Partner Club.

[Alex 240Z]

As long as you print Sport Z magazine you will have my subscription !!!!! I have been a reader and subscriber since the magazines inseption !!!! Hopefully there will be more new subscribers !!! One excellent magazine !!!!

[Bambikiller240]

It's really depressing to hear how poorly the magazine is supported by S30 owners. I wonder how many of them pi$$ away more than $20 a year on things they could have learned FROM the magazine if they had only subscribed?

[Zrush]

Amen Art! You just keep doing a great job on the magazine. I know that I for one can't wait for the next issue to arrive.

Scott

[mdbrandy]

We can do nothing about that once the mag is in the hands of the USPS. We have no problem replacing damaged magazines as long as it doesn't become a regular thing. At that point we will suggest that you upgrade to 1st class to ensure a nice clean copy. We have never told someone that it wasn't our fault, so tough luck and better luck next time. We replace a damanged copy with no questions asked. All we ask is that before voicing something on a forum, that you give us a call first, you'll see that we don't bite.

Of course! I'm sorry if it sounded like I was complaining about SZM! Obviously it was completely the USPS handling of the magazine, and as you say, once you hand it over, what can you do? The USPS handles many millions (billions?) of pieces of mail each year, and I just got unlucky enough to get a bent-up magazine. Why it couldn't have been Computerworld, instead of SZM, I don't know!

Anyway, I currently have a 3-year sub - and I love the magazine! Keep it coming!

[hls30.com]

Art,

I will not be part of the problem!

I will take all of my back issues(haven't got the new one yet) to my local Z Club(Coastal Z Club) meet tomorrow(Tuesday, June 21, 2005. @ B&D Burgers on Abercorn in Savannah, GA.) night. In the "carrousing" minutes before and after the meeting, I will find the issues that feature the model that each of the members drove up in, and put it in their hands. I will also hand them a subscription card when I get the magazine back(and I do want them all back)! Some of our members don't know about your magazine. They will after this.

Usually out of the 79 or so members "on the books", about 20 will show up, I will see to it that each one gets a chance to look at your magazine, and the opportunity to order it. I will keep that up for the next several meetings, and I will see what else I can do!

I can't lend a hand on your 240Z project(even though I would like to) because I am too far away, but I am not too far away to help develop more interest in something I enjoy!

William Stokes

[Alex 240Z]

Received my issue today !!! Excellent rainy day reading !!!! and that is what it has been doing in the Sunshine State !!!! Florida !!!

[240ZX]

I'm an SZM X-subscriber and I don't candy coat my points of view, so the only input I can offer is.....car magazines generally become successful because the content of the magazine offers subject matter that is fresh, interesting and enlighting, and beyond the basic and rudimentary things 95% of car enthusiasts already know, if it doesn't...the magazine dies. Granted, the staff of SZM certainly has the motivation, desire, and commitment for a successful magazine but, sometimes the best made plans require new direction and thinking. Getting a fledgling magazine off the ground is surely an arduous task in itself and you guys really do have the drive to make it happen. I wish you all, success! Maybe someday I will be a SZM subscriber again.

[RAZ1]

240ZX, I'm glad you responded. Becuase you bring up some interesting points. I would like to take a little time to respond to some of them. Please do not take this as a personal response to you directly but for me to have a chance to talk to an ex-subscriber about what SZM is all about.

You say:

"car magazines generally become successful because the content of the magazine offers subject matter that is fresh, interesting and enlighting, and beyond the basic and rudimentary things 95% of car enthusiasts already know, if it doesn't...the magazine dies."

I wish that was the way magazines become successful. Magazine's become successfull because of advertising and to get advertising you need subscribers to meet the CPM's that national advertisers look for when deciding to advertise. Most of the magazines on the newstands today are owned by a handful of big publishers that can support a new magazine in their stable by selling cheap ads to already existing advertisers and then give the magazine away for close to nothing so that they can show a good CPM to the advertiser. Look at any magazine on the market and you will see that they rehash the same stories and articles over and over on a regular basis. For example, wheel articles. tire articles, 50 cheap upgrade articles and the list goes on. They do this on a yearly basis because of advertising plain and simple. How many ways can you do a rust article? How many times can you talk about a sponsor car? What's refreshing about 50 or more cheap upgrades when most of them are the same things that you could have done last year or the year before? Nobody is reinventing the wheel, I can pick up a HotRod Magazine and see the same stuff now that they were writing about 15 years ago. We ar already beyond all the so called indicators that magazines go by when seeing if a magazine is going to fail or not. Just so you know, Most magazines fail within the first three years of publication. If you make it to there then at the end of five years you should be breaking even. The reason Z mags have failed in the past is because they treated it like a hobby. This is not a hobby. If it was I would have taken up knitting years ago instead.

You said:

"Granted, the staff of SZM certainly has the motivation, desire, and commitment for a successful magazine but, sometimes the best made plans require new direction and thinking."

Correct on motivation, desire, and commitment, but what do you mean by new direction and thinking? Since you don't sugar coat things, by all means give me some examples, I'm all ears.

You mentioned before the word "enthusiasts" and I would like to make a comment on that. To me, a Z enthusiast is someone that can't get enough stuff about their car. I guess that would make me an enthusiast. I'll buy anything that is written about the Z and on any generation because I know that there isn't a hole lot out there to get (just bought a great book on the 280ZX while I was in Denver for the Got-z event). I don't own a 280ZX, but who cares, I'm a Z nut and I'll take it. I feel the same way about the magazine (if I wasn't part of it, I would be a subscriber because it's about Z's period). Would I buy it beacuse I expect to learn something new every issue? Of coarse not, I can do all of my own work on my Z's and don't need to ask question to find out how to fix something. I can usually figure it out on my own by reading a manual or asking a friend. Does that mean I shouldn't support a website by being a member? Of coarse not. I support it because it allows me to be a part of something that I can't find at the local machine shop.

The most important thing that Sport Z brings to the table is an awareness to the general public as well as an outlet for Z owners around the world to showcase their car. What other magazine would think of featuring an average Z in their pages? Not many, unless you have a lot of sponsors backing the car so that the magazine can use it as a bargaining chip when trying to sell advertising for the issue it will be featured in. The responses that we get when a Z owners car makes it on to the pages of Sport Z is what makes this all worthwhile.

Now if I could just get people to understand that it's not always about learning something new, but as much about giving a community (in this case Z's) an outlet to express themselves to the mainstream population.

Thanks 240ZX for giving me this chance to say what I think without sugar coating it. And if someday you decide to come back, we'll welcome you with open arms.